MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $93.4167.

MET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays set a $90.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Mizuho set a $100.00 price target on MetLife in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore set a $95.00 price objective on MetLife in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th.

MetLife Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $67.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $83.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the third quarter valued at $6,649,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in MetLife by 188.1% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 417,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,577,000 after purchasing an additional 272,619 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in MetLife by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,176,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,905,000 after buying an additional 96,523 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in MetLife by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,630,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,524,000 after buying an additional 117,545 shares during the period. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in shares of MetLife by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 137,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,363,000 after buying an additional 24,800 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.